Bad Romance in the Dark
by ProudDyspraxicWriter
Summary: Marlene would do anything to impress Griff Tannen. But how far will she go? Is there anything her brother, Marty Jr., can do to help her?
1. Just Dance

Bad Romance in the Dark

**Tuesday, 20****th**** October, 2015**

_Ohhhh-oooh-whoa, caught in a bad romance,_

_Ohhhh-oooh-whoa, caught in a bad romance,_

_Rara ah-ah-ah, ro-roma-ma_

_Gaga ooh-lala, want your bad romance_

_Rara ah-ah-ah, ro-roma-ma_

_Roma, ro-roma-ma,_

_Gaga ooh-lala, want your bad romance_

" Marlene! Shut that rubbish off!"

Marlene didn't hear her mother calling her. With her bedroom door shut, she refused to let the outside world in. So, as she so often did when the door was closed, the music and contagious beat transported her to another planet entirely. Jumping and dancing around her shrine to Lady Gaga, she began to belt out the words to her favourite song of all time.

_I want your ugly,_

_I want your disease,_

_I want your everything as long as it's free,_

_I want your love,_

_Love, love, love,_

_I want your love._

_Hey!_

_I want your drama,_

_The touch of your hand,_

_Hey!  
I want your leather-studded kiss in the sand,_

_I want your love,_

_Love, love, love,_

_I want your love,_

_Love, love, love,_

_I want your love._

_You know that I want you,_

_And you know that I need you,_

_I want it bad,_

_Your bad romance,_

_I want your love and I want your revenge,_

_You and me could write a bad romance!_

" Marlene! Did you hear me?"

The seventeen year old girl gasped in mid-jump. As her mother's footsteps climbed the stairs, Marlene dashed over to the computer switch off iTunes and before her mom could see her messy bed, she grabbed a schoolbook, leapt onto her bed and pretended to read. Jennifer arrived a few seconds later. Phew.

" Hi, Mom!" she cried cheerfully, trying to sound innocent.

" You're actually…_studying?_" her mom asked in disbelief.

" Yeah. Got that big test on Friday. Gotta be prepared, Mom!" she answered, swallowing nervously.

Jennifer folded her arms, knowing what her daughter had really been doing. " Next time wear headphones, huh? Well, anyway, you've got a phone call. You comin' to answer it?"

" Who is it?"

" Griff Tannen." The girl jumped up, anxious and nervous. " Which I don't approve of, by the way," Jennifer carried on. " The Tannens are bad news. Why, your grandpa was miserable for years before standing up to that big bully Biff."

Marlene rolled her eyes. " You're just saying that 'cause he's my friend."

" Nuh-uh. Candi and Lindsay are your friends. People who bullied you and your brother in elementary school are not."

Marlene's mind was cast back to the day when a six year old Griff pulled one of her pigtails and pushed her into the sandpit. " He's different now, Mom. It's OK, he's cool. We're cool."

" Well, I don't want you to get hurt. But if you want to stay friends with him, that's fine," replied Jennifer sincerely. After a brief pause, she added, " Come on, then. Don't want to keep him waiting, do you?"


	2. Stop Callin', Stop Callin'

Marlene raced down the stairs to the living room where the huge flat-screen videophone screen was hung on the wall with the image of Griff, impatiently waiting for her. When she saw him, she was plunged into a pool of pure joy and her stomach filled with butterflies.

" It's about fuckin' time, Marlene," he grumbled.

" Sorry, I was, uh…Just you know…" she stammered, coyly fiddling with a strand of her long auburn hair.

" Dancin' around to Lady Gaga again, like you're _always _doing?" he guessed, raising an eyebrow. " You and your Gaga obsession is outta control, man. But, uh, I got you the tickets anyway," he added with a small, sideward smile.

The girl squealed with delight. " That's awesome! Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! Can I see them?" Griff whirled around on his swivel chair and grabbed them off-screen. He returned with two see-through tickets. " Activate them! Activate them!" she ordered.

Griff did as he was told and pressed the big red button on one of them. The holographic image of Lady Gaga's head came out and an instrumental version of Bad Romance started playing. Then the head began speaking. " Griffin Buford Tannen, Marlene Margaret McFly, thanks for buying tix to my concert! I'll be seeing you at the Kingdom Arena on the 23rd of January in 2016! I love you, guys!" it shouted over the blasting music before sinking away back into the ticket.

A rush of adrenaline washed over the Gaga-enthusiast, she jumped up and down, squealing with excitement. " This is going to be the best birthday ever!" she squeaked.

Suddenly, there was a faint sound of someone giggling behind her. Marty Jr. appeared from behind the door, covering his mouth to stifle his immature and cruel laughs. Marlene clenched her teeth with anger and lunged for her brother's throat.

" You're dead, you scrawny little bastard!" she screeched, clenching her hands into fists as she chased after him.

" Griff and Marlene, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" he sang as he galloped around the room, his voice cracking because it hadn't fully broken yet.

" What, are you five?"

" No, I'm fifteen," he answered, matter-of-factly.

" You're not fifteen _yet_, you little worm," Marlene growled. " Now get out or you're in big trouble," she warned.

" Free country."

With a smirk, Marlene opened her mouth, took an enormous gulp of air and let it out in a giant bellow. " MOM! MJ'S EAVESDROPPING ON MY PRIVATE CONVERSATION!"

" MJ! Leave your sister alone!" came Mom's muffled voice from the laundry room.

" Anyway," Marlene continued after she made sure Marty was out of earshot. " You were saying?"

" Well, seeing as I've done this favour for you. It's time for you to do a favour for me," Griff answered, leaning back in his chair, entwining his fingers together, making him look like some sort of Bond villain.

" I'd do anything for you, Griff," she replied, flirtatiously batting her eyelashes.

" Fine. I need you to be a lookout."

" For what?"

" Is your brother around?"

" I don't think so."

" Good. What I want you to do is to be a lookout for me and the guys when we break into the Payroll Substation on 8th Street," he explained, lowering his voice slightly.

Marlene stared at him, dumbfounded. She loved Griff more than Lady Gaga, but robbing a bank was wrong. She knew that. She'd spent her entire lifetime being told what was wrong and what was right. " N-no, I can't do that. By 'favour', I thought I'd be waxing your car or something."

" Nah, I got my grandpa doin' that job. Besides, you wanna be in my gang, right?"

" More than anything, Griff, but this is wrong. So, so, _so _wrong!"

" So? You gotta be ready for anythin' when you're with me, dude."

" But you could get arrested! _I _could get arrested! My mom and dad can't deal with that, especially now that my dad's fighting for a promotion at work. Look, I love you, but I can't risk ruining my reputation _and_ breaking the law while I'm at it."

" Then show me how much you love me. Come with me tomorrow night and do this for me."

" Sorry, some people have a conscience. See ya," she muttered miserably and ended the conversation.

Holding back tears, the teenage girl ran upstairs to her bedroom. Furiously, she switched on iTunes, turned the volume up as loud as it could possibly go. Lady Gaga sang to her and as she listened to the words, she couldn't help but feel that Gaga had written the song to fit her situation.

_I want your love and I want your revenge,_

_I want your love,_

_I don't wanna be friends,_

_Je veux ton amour,_

_Et je veux ta revanche,_

_Je vuex ton amour,_

_I don't wanna be friends,_

_I don't wanna be friends,_

_I don't wanna be friends!_

_Want your bad romance,_

_Want your bad romance._

She curled up into a tiny ball on her bed and burst into tears, knowing that this was never going to go away by itself.

" Marlene?"

She looked up, slightly embarrassed that she'd been caught weeping. Marty Jr. was standing by the door, wearing a determined and sympathy expression. When she saw that it was just her nerdy brother, she turned her back on him, hoping he'd go away. She went over to the computer to turn off the music again, knowing that Marty hated Bad Romance with a passion. Eventually, she turned to face him, their eyes meeting for an intense second.

" I overheard you and Griff talking," he squeaked.

" What? You are _so _dead, you little snitch!" she snapped.

" I won't tell. I promise," he said, smiling.

" On Lady Gaga's life?"

MJ nodded and he went to sit down on the bed with his older sister. " I can talk to Griff if you like. Tell him to piss off and never bother you again because we're a respectable family and all he is, is a stupid bojo with a really bad fashion sense!" he chuckled, loving the sound of that.

Marlene gave a hearty chuckle and sniffed miserably. " Thanks, but he'd pummel you to the ground before you even get the chance."

" Don't care. Nobody hurts my sister gets away with it!" he cried.

She gave an appreciative smile. " I'd rather you didn't, MJ. He could kill you! Despite the fact that you're an annoying little pest, I like having you around," she admitted.

" You do?" he asked.

" You're my little brother. Of course I like you!" The siblings hugged, but Marty had other plans.


	3. PPPoker Face

MJ ran down the street to Griff's house, determined to stick up for his sister, despite being a bit of a wimp himself. Griff was big, tough, strong and the bionic implants made him even stronger. He was like a modern-day version of Terminator, but even that wasn't going to stop him. When he approached the Tannen household, he took a deep breath, prepared himself for a one-sided fight and finally, went up to the door to ring the bell. He waited for a few minutes until an elderly man with a cane came to answer it. He didn't look happy.

" What the hell do you want?" he ordered.

Marty's confidence fell away. " Uh, um, I w-want, uh…"

" What? You want to hang out with Griff?" he guessed.

" Yeah. Please." He gulped nervously. He noticed the top of the man's cane, which was in the shape of a gold fist. Maybe this wasn't a good idea after all.

" GRIFF!" the old man yelled. " THERE'S SOME KID HERE! HE WANTS TO TALK TO YA!"

" WHAT?" came Griff's faint shout from the living room.

" THERE'S SOME KID HERE WHO WANTS TO SEE YA!"

" WHAT?"

" JUST SHUT UP AND GET YOUR BUTT OVER HERE!" the old man screamed, which Griff responded to in the end.

He approached the door but didn't seem to notice his guest. " What the hell do you want, Grandpa?" he asked his grandfather in a deadly annoyed tone.

" Your friend here has come to see ya. Now get to it! Diagnosis Murder is on," he muttered, walking back into the living room.

Griff rolled his eyes and faced MJ. When he noticed how small he was compared to him, he burst out laughing.

" You hurt my sister this afternoon, Griff," he snarled in a tone he hoped sounded menacing.

" What? I didn't do nothin'! I wasn't even at your house, so why are you accusin' me?"

" You hurt her feelings. You made her cry."

" Oh, I made her cry, did I?" The bully grabbed MJ's shirt and picked him up a few inches off the ground. " Listen to me, ya stupid little cry-baby, you're stickin' your nose in places it shouldn't be. So why don't you make like a tree and get outta here?"

Cowering with fear, Marty tried to think of something to do. " What if I help you with the robbery? And leave my sister out of it?" he breathed, violently trembling.

" You don't have the guts," Griff answered, dropping him back to the ground.

" Let me sleep on it, yeah? I'll prove I'm not chicken."

Griff considered it for a moment. Having a spineless boy would at least be better than having a spineless girl there. " All right. I'll make a deal wit'cha. You rob the bank with me and I'll let Marlene off the hook."

Nervously, MJ nodded his head. " I'll think about it," he squeaked.

" Make sure you do! Meet me at Café '80's tomorrow afternoon, ya got that?" he spat, bringing a fist to MJ's throat, almost choking him.

" Yeah, I'll be there!" he shrieked and he scarpered.


	4. That Boy is a Monster

A few hours later, after dinner was eaten and the dirty plates were cleared away, Marlene was in her room with her CD player blasting her favourite Lady Gaga album as she happily typed on the computer. She was chatting to Griff over MSN. She smiled to herself as she tapped the keyboard.

_**~~marlenefaline~~**_

_listnin 2 telefone :3_

_**GRIFFISTHEBEST**_

_youre always listenig 2 telefone :P its fuckin annoyin u no_

_**~~marlenefaline~~**_

_youre always listnin 2 metallica :P_

_**GRIFFISTHEBEST**_

_touche madam. touche_

_**~~marlenefaline~~**_

_so wat u doin?_

_**GRIFFISTHEBEST**_

_wonderin wat I did 2 diserve a visit frum ur bro _

_**~~marlenefaline~~**_

_mj did wat now? :s_

_**GRIFFISTHEBEST**_

_Hes qu8 honorbol_

Suddenly, a panicky feeling struck her hard in the face. MJ was always a little bit of a 'smartass' at home – as their father would put it. He was constantly making wisecracks and snappy comebacks. But that particular evening, he didn't say anything at all and seemed to be slightly jumpy, which Marlene initially didn't think was serious. She suddenly realised what must have happened. Now fully ignoring the music with her fingers trembling over the keyboard, she tapped in the sentence as fast as she could.

_**~~marlenefaline~~**_

_plz griff dont fuck about_

_**GRIFFISTHEBEST**_

_hes willin 2 take ur plaze the robbry_

Marlene let out a high-pitched scream of pure terror. Like herself, Marty Jr. knew right from wrong. " Marty Jr.! Get your fat ass up here! NOW!"

The almost fifteen year old boy was watching TV downstairs when he heard his sister calling him. He jolted upwards out of the armchair and galloped up the stairs to her room within seconds.

" I know. I know! It was stupid! I didn't know what else to do!" he pleaded and begged before Marlene could get a word in.

" You stupid, stupid, _STUPID _boy!" she shrieked, smacking him repeatedly in the arm. " What did you do? WHY DID YOU DO IT?"

" You didn't want to help him, so I told him I'd think about taking your place," he explained, his voice falling low for a change.

" So you haven't actually promised you'd do it?" she answered. It felt as though she was about to sick with fright.

" I have to meet him tomorrow at Café '80's to tell him my decision," he said.

" Well, don't do it! It's insane! You could get in serious trouble. Think of what Dad would say! He'd murder you before I would!" she shouted. " I didn't even want you going over there! So why did you do it?"

Marty Jr. shrugged. " I was trying to be brave. You know what Grandpa's always saying? 'If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything.'"

Marlene nodded and clucked her tongue. " And what did that accomplish?" she barked, the sarcasm flying out of her mouth.

" I'm sorry. I was trying to help!" he answered apologetically.

" Don't worry, I'll fix it!" she muttered angrily.

" Are you fighting in there, kids?" Jennifer asked as she passed with a large, heavy basket of clean clothes.

" No!" they both said in unison.

Marlene raced down the stairs, sliding down the banister this time, with Marty Jr. trailing behind her as she jogged outside to the back garden.

" What are you doing? Where are you going?" he asked.

" I'm going to talk to Griff!" she mumbled. She went down to the shed, nearly kicking it open in anger.

" But wait! Mom doesn't let us take our bikes out in the dark!" he protested.

" Screw that!" she spat, taking out the pink bicycle with the pink and purple tassels on the handlebars. " Cover for me," she said to her brother, before riding out to the backdoor and lastly out to the road.

Like always, as she violently pushed Pocahontas – as she affectionately nicknamed her bike – to the limit, she had her iPod earbuds stuffed in her ears, Lady Gaga's Dance in the Dark exploding in her brain. She was fuming with pure rage and she didn't care who she nearly crashed into on the road. In that blurry moment of anger, it felt as though she and her idol had partnered up with one another to bring down the bully, no matter how much the teenage girl worshipped him.

_Some girls won't dance to the beat of the track,_

_She won't walk away but she won't look back,_

_She looks good but her boyfriend says she's a mess,_

_She's a mess,_

_She's a mess,_

_Now the girl is stressed,_

_She's a mess,_

_She's a mess,_

_She's a mess, _

_She's a mess!_

_Baby loves to dance in the dark,_

'_Cause when he's looking she's fall apart,_

_Baby loves to dance in the dark,_

'_Cause when he's looking she's fall apart._


	5. You Popped My Heart Seams

After what seemed like hours of pedalling and growling with anger, Marlene finally reached the Tannen household, where the unsuspecting victim was undoubtedly lurking. Parking her bicycle outside next to the fence, she ripped the earbuds from her ears and unlike Marty earlier, she didn't need preparation for a fight. She knew there was going to be a fight because her fists were gasping for a face to punch. She banged the door three times. Steeling her jaw, she cracked her knuckles as she waited for someone to answer the door. Like before, a very disgruntled old gentleman pulled the door to.

" I need to speak with your grandson," she muttered coldly.

" Luke's out with his mom and dad, so I guess you mean Griff," he replied. " GRIFF! YA GOT ANOTHER VISITOR!"

" WHAT?"

" IT'S A GIRL THIS TIME! A HOT ONE, TOO!"

At this, Griff removed himself from his laptop, smirking evilly to himself. After ordering his grandfather to go away, he watched Marlene's expression intently and he folded his arms and leant against the doorframe. " Oh, look! Marlene McFly. I must say, you're looking especially troubled tonight."

" Yeah, 'cause of you!" she screamed and lunged for his throat. His bionic arm stopped her and automatically pushed her to the ground. She hit her head on the cement pathway and let out a cry of pain and surprise, causing Griff to fall about with laughter.

" Why are you so mad at me? It was your butthead of a brother who insisted that he'd take your place," he informed her once his laughing fit was over.

" You had a choice, Griff!" she shouted. " You could've turned the offer down OR the smartest option would be to NOT rob that damn bank tomorrow!" Griff rolled his eyes. " Don't you want to be different from your family? If you don't rob that bank tomorrow, you could change the way Hill Valley looks at the Tannens. If you do, well, you can say goodbye to me forever."

" Look at you," the cold-blooded teenager muttered. " You think you actually have a chance with me? You're pathetic, just like the rest of your family." At that, he shoved her to the ground again. He knelt down and pressed his face against hers. " The best thing about you is that I can take advantage of you because I know how much you love me. All this time I've been pretending to like you to get you to do dogsbody work."

" Then why did you get me the Lady Gaga tickets? Huh? You must like me a little!"

Griff shook his head slowly and smirked. " I felt sorry for you. You should be locked up in some rehab clinic." He stood up and he took the two tickets out of his pocket. Laughing cruelly, he started to rip them up.


	6. So Happy I Could Die

**Wednesday, 21****st**** October, 2015**

_In your brown eyes,_

_I walked away,_

_In your brown eyes,_

_I couldn't stay,_

_In your brown eyes,_

_You watch her go,_

_Then turn the record on,_

_And wonder what went wrong,_

_What went wrong?_

_If everything was everything,_

_But everything is over,_

_Everything could be everything,_

_If only we were older,_

_I guess it's just a silly song about you,_

_And how I lost you and your brown eyes._

The previous night's drama seemed to have been some sort of bad dream that all went wrong. Marlene had grieved over the deceased tickets and what Griff had so coldly told her, but when she awoke to the sound of Brown Eyes, she had almost completely forgotten about it all. She still had the freedom to listen to her favourite performer, she had her health, her life but she didn't have the boy she'd loved. She turned over, wrapping her body in her pink and purple duvet, jumped in surprise. MJ was hovering over her in his X-Men pyjamas and tousled hair. He was grinning from ear to ear. Marlene shot up, pulling the duvet around herself, suddenly feeling vulnerable with the thought of her brother watching her sleep lingering in her mind.

" Get out, you creep!" she screeched and proceeded to throw her pillow at him.

" Wait! I've decided what I'm going to do about today," he said, flailing his arms about.

" You're going to say 'no'?"

" That's what I want to say. I'm such a wimp when it comes to standing up to Griff. Well, I heard about what you did last night. That was really brave!" he complimented, somewhat sheepishly. " So will you teach me how to be brave?"

She nodded her head. " Yeah, I'll teach you on the way to school."

" And, um," Marty continued. " I _was_ going to surprise you for your birthday next year but Griff beat me to the punch. Here."

He gave her an envelope which she took. She looked at it suspiciously. It hadn't been opened and it felt a little heavy. She opened it and two see-through tickets fell out. She gasped in surprise.

" I thought we could go to the concert together," he said, smiling.

" But you hate Lady Gaga!" Marlene gasped.

" Just Bad Romance. That's annoying, but some of her other songs are pretty awesome," the Paramore-loving nerd admitted.

" Oh, I could kiss you!" she shrieked joyously and wrapped her arms around her baby – albeit annoying – brother and gave him a sloppy kiss on the cheek.

**This took me all day to write. Can you tell? :P**


End file.
